I'm curious to know to what extreme you're (all) willing to go to or have gone to for the results desired.I don't think it would go over well here or at home but the thought momentarily sideswiped me...to use M80's (my speaker of preference)for L/C/R and maintain the desire TV height of 30" I'd need to drop them into 9.5" deep holes... and here's were the divorce papers come in.A the very least the wife would kill me but it got me thinking how cool it would be to hear some of your own horror stories and achievements as they relate to going where no man(or women)has gone before.

You'd have to raise your TV; putting the M80's into "holes" would severely compromise their fidelity.

I think the "dedicated room" (and/or single) guys are more likely to spend the time, money and WAF capital it takes to optimize their listening/viewing experience. No matter how much equipment you throw at the issue, if your room sucks, you can't really overcome it.

grunt, onn and CV all have pretty insane systems. Nick and sirquack have probably done more to fix the acoustics of their rooms than anyone else I can think of.

StPatGuy has one chair in the sweet spot. I love him.

My stuff is part of how I live. I have forced-air heat, a kegerator, an aquarium, high ceilings and open floorplan. It doesn't make sense for me to spend time/money going for golden ear territory, or for me to spend energy worrying about it. I just savor the moments on the couch with my loved ones.

I'm with Tom. Although I love to tinker and I can overspend on gadgetry if given a loose leash, luckily the term "law of diminishing returns" kicks in to my brain at some point to save me from major trauma.

I'm Extremely happy with my sound at this time without room treatments (other than the strategic placement of furniture & decor)and with just basic calibration. I continue to tinker but more so just for the sake of tinkering. Someday, I want to do something to smooth out my serious bass nulls as this is a very noticable problem and probably worth the time and energy for me. However, I don't feel the need to invest thousands (or risk my marraige) over very tiny, incrimental gains.

In my personal opinion, since you asked, dropping speakers into the floor would be going a bit overboard on the diminsihing returns scale and actually likely drive you downwards in sound quality a bit vs. up.

_________________________
With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.

I used to really be into the equipment end of things. But those who have been around this forum for any length of time have heard that I have a small, square room.... the worst type of listening situation there is. Along the lines of what Tom wrote, I live on a busy street, so traffic noise is always an issue as well. Within a few months or so of getting serious about this (by purchasing Axioms and better electronics) I was doing measurements and realized exactly how bad my room was affecting things. I was a bit pissed off for awhile, feeling like there was nothing I could realistically do to improve things.

But then, I came to the realization that it didn't sound nearly as bad as it measured. As a matter of fact, it sounded pretty damned good. I put away my SPL meter and haven't taken it back out in 8 years. And this is from someone who used to have a RS meter in high school...in the late 1970s... and ALWAYS was a believer in going that route.

My dream here is to build an addition onto the house. Something of a "great room" with lots of windows and an open concept. I would LOVE to get LFRs, BIG subs, and lots of amp power. But I don't care anymore if I have the perfect listening room or the top-level of equipment. I don't have any interest in a "theater", though I don't want to sound disparaging to those who do.

I want the setup to be good enough to not diminish the enjoyment of the media. But I'm no longer looking to measure myself into unhappiness.

Geeez, is that last line a setup, or what??

For me, at this point, it's all about the music, movie or even the TV show. I've achieved a level in equipment that satisfies me and I don't really think about it at all anymore.

it's all about the music, movie or even the TV show. I've achieved a level in equipment that satisfies me and I don't really think about it at all anymore.

Yes! This!

On a fundamental level, the room and the equipment are present only to enable and enhance our experience - our consumption of The Art.

I'll grant you that there is art, craft, creativity and design present (and worth appreciating) in the equipment. But - to me - focusing on the equipment or environment is a bit like going to the Louvre to check out the lighting.

Without the musical and theater arts, there would be no need for us to reproduce them in our living spaces.

Same. We do have a nice sweet spot that our family of 4 can fit into nicely. Most of the time its only me watching movies, after the kids are in bed, after a long week.While my room has its own issues (mainly me) its time to upgrade.The system I have, while really cheap, has sounded damn near perfect a number of times (tweaking ruined me more times than I care to admit).The wife even agrees "if you're going to upgrade anything, get new stands". I've taken this as permission, its the best I'm gonna get.I'm shocked at what I've heard from the used QS4'S I picked up. If they are any indication of whats to come I'm at the right place.